Trying To Fly
by PrettyLittleHuman
Summary: Once Upon A Time, a lost boy and a visiting girl made a deal with Pan: They could leave Neverland if they gave him their first-born son. But the Mannerings only had two daughters, and their marriage was far from happy. Thus when the youngest, Jane, learns about all this she is far from happy to see her father again. Unable to pay the piper, the whole family ends up in Neverland.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

All children grow old, except those in Neverland. But growing up is quite interesting, as it can come too early for some and never at all for others. The latter of which are always haunted by things they feared when they were young, having never grown up to know how to deal with them. Like a fear of the dark, and what lie within it.

Even in a place like New York City, where the cars never stopped clogging the roads and neon lights flashed even during daylight hours, George never thought the apartment looked so dark.

He'd awoken in cold sweat, his ginger locks stuck to his neck and forehead. His racing heart and heavy breathing only added to the perspiration.

He dreamt of shadows. He dreamt of the pipes, those that haunted his heart but that he hadn't heard since he was a boy. George dreamt of promises he'd yet to keep.

His girlfriend had left already, probably back to her place to get new clothes. They had been talking about moving in together for some time, but had yet to make it official. Her absence made the darkness of the 3 am night feel all the more foreboding.

Then he saw it…

...Or, he thought he saw it…

After years of anticipation, which grew stronger in the past few months, George was never sure if he was just seeing things or not.

_I suppose it doesn't matter, _He thought, placing a cigarette between his lips to light up-an ineffective attempt to calm down and forget it all. _Eventually it will be real. I can't waste anymore time._

Another trait of someone who hasn't grown up: They hardly ever keep promises. The ones they do keep are only for their own gain.

*QUEENS*

Bravery is a trait often found in those who grow up. Because all it means is that they know how to react when they are scared. In many ways, it looks to the world like the brave don't react to fear at all. But I don't believe this.

Jane always felt fear when she entered the two-bedroom apartment where our story begins. Not fear for something physical like her life, the fear she'd learned to deal with was more abstract. She learned to cope with it in smaller ways.

As if mirroring George's actions from miles away, Jane sat by her window-slightly ajar as a lit cigarette sat lonely in an ashtray. Jane wasn't smoking, she just found the scent of nicotine comforting.

She had to be careful though, even while Angela was sleeping (and wouldn't rat her out anyways), their mother _hated_ cigarettes and would keep them up all night ranting and raving about how Jane was "Killing herself, her sister, and her mother" but how "maybe it doesn't matter to a selfish little brat like her."

_Yeah Mom, I am selfish. _Jane thought, _That's why I've never offered you one._

So she continued her routine of spraying the Japanese Cherry Blossom Body spray to mask the smell, throwing the cigarette stub down the side of the building, and hiding the tray and old cigarette pack in a footlocker beneath her bed.

Jane noted only two cigarettes were left. It had been a pack of 20 when her father had purchased it in the early 2000s, and it had only 6 left by the time Jane got ahold of it. She remembered because she'd counted and thought at the time, _Six! Just like me!_

Now it was almost ten years later. Her beloved sister was going to be 20 next week. Jane was making her a purse out of an old dress their mother wanted to give away. Being good at domestic things like sewing usually helped save money for Jane. One day her sister's birthday present would be getting them both away from their crazy bitch of a mother.

Before she fell asleep, Jane's eyes focused on the black, night sky and the scarce stars that shone in a polluted city like her's.

"Star light, star bright. First star I see tonight." She lied to probably the twentieth star she'd gazed upon in the last five minutes. "I wish I may, I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight."

Though her previous words were irrevocably tinged in sarcasm, her meaning behind them was most sincere-especially the part she uttered next. "Get us out. Please?"

In spite of her sincerity, she fell asleep without hope of the wish being granted. Only a burning desire in her chest that went unsated.

One consequence of growing up too soon without growing old: It made it very hard to put trust in stars and have faith in the possibility of wishes.

Though, one should not forget, it isn't _impossible_ either.


	2. Chapter 1: An Unwelcome Stranger

**Chapter 1: An Unwelcome Stranger**

"Girls! I'll be home by 6 tonight, okay?" Maimie called her daughters through the door to the tiny bathroom.

"Okay Mom!" Angela called back as she paced the foot and a half of distance between the sink and the tub, in which Jane sat cross-legged to preserve space.

There was a short, blessed amount of silence before Maimie's annoyed voice rang through again, "You know I wouldn't have to scream if you would open the damn door while I am talking to you!" While it was annoyed, their mother's voice was also sickly sweet. Like the kind of high-pitched passive-aggression that you only hear exaggerated through someone's clenched teeth. Eyes wide to get the attention of the person to take a hint, even though the "hint" is practically a frying pan cracking against your head.

Jane rolled her eyes, "Mom, I'm curling my hair! I can't open the door while I have a hot instrument of torture by my head!" She called, fighting the urge to slam her currently uncurled head against the wall.

"_I'm just saying,_ I always feel like I'm yelling at you girls because you won't bother yourselves to come and listen when I'm talking to you." The high notes of Maimie's speech was progressing so rapidly an opera singer might've blushed and glass definitely should have broke.

"I'm sorry, Mom, we'll see you tonight!" Angela called out, her voice struggling to keep it together while her hands wringed out the nerves she couldn't verbalize.

"Don't be _sorry_," Maimie said the word "sorry" with an over dramatic flair. "Just look at me when I'm talking to you so _I _don't have to _yell_."

Jane's eyeballs did a barrel roll whilst Angela quirked her eyebrows towards her little sister, as if to say, _Is she fucking kidding us right now?_

Silence again, for a sold minute, before they heard their mother's voice again.

"And another thing before I go!" Both sisters lifted their hands in comical frustration, "Don't leave that curling iron plugged in, Jane! It's a fire hazard!"

"I never do, Mom!" Jane called, aggravation cutting into her voice.

"Don't talk back to me, young lady! You always leave it unplugged in by the sink and I always have to put it away! You don't just unplug it, you wait for it to cool and you: Put. It. Away!"

"I got it, Ma!"

"If I find it on the sink by the time I get home, Jane, I am throwing it in the garbage!"

"Got it!"

They finally heard a jingling of keys. In the bathroom, it went dead silent. The girls just listened to the shuffle of their mother grabbing her oversized tote-bag and doublefisting two cups of coffee. When the door to the apartment slammed shut, Jane and Angela visibly sighed with relief. She was finally gone.

Maimie Mannering worked in the HR department of a major oil company with an office in Manhasset. During work, she was known as a hard worker and a credit to the company management. That did nothing to get her a raise, or take out her work-related anxiety on her daughters whenever it got to be too much for her.

Her youngest shared her talent for psychologically damaging dialogue. Except Jane wasn't known to mince words. There were even rare moments when she forgoed words altogether and settled for fists. Sometimes actions of violence speak louder than Spanglish and Yiddish insults, especially when the target only understands the language of war.

Right in the middle, Angela, who hardly raised her voice and never harmed a fly.

But it would be inaccurate to say that she was the non-violent or peaceful Mannering woman. Her abuse was emotional and generally self-inflicted. She was a classic glutton for punishment. For example, sweet Angela was in that bathroom waiting for the results of a pregnancy test, from an on-again-off-again relationship with a boy who had only abs and an electronic keyboard to recommend him.

Jane held the directions in one hand and the pregnancy test in her hand that was cover with a disposable latex glove. After a second, she pulled the glove off over the pregnancy test and threw it in the plastic CVS bag. She announced, "The human race is safe. You're not pregnant."

"Oh, thank God." Angela breathed.

"I told you it was nothing." Jane said, climbing out of the bathtub.

With the crisis averted, Jane and Angela got started on their daily routines. True to her word, the former of the pair did start curling her long, red hair. It just tickled her lower back, with the exception of her silky bangs that went straight across her forehead, and she was very proud of it

"So, what the fuck happened between you and what's-his-nuts?"

Angela shrugged, "Nothing _happened_. We slept together because we were drunk and horny."

"No, I get _that_." Jane clarified, pinning a red curl up into a victory roll on her head. "I just thought you two were in the off-phrase right now. Clearly I was wrong."

Angela blushed, "We're not _together_, we're just… Casual."

Jane gave her a look, attempting a tone of uncertainty that didn't suit her opposing feeling. "You don't do casual."

"Yes I do!" Angela insisted.

"No, you really don't. You only sleep with people you're emotionally invested in."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't do casual, it just means that I casually have sex with people I like. Is that a bad thing? And anyways, I _taught_ you how to do casual, remember?"

"True." The teenager agreed reluctantly to the last part.

Having a mother who selectively decided against all evidence that her daughters were virgins, for a number of years, it fell to the girls and their outside connections to figure out how the world at large operated. Angela, being the eldest learned first. She taught Jane all the basics:

The clit is VERY important.

The pull-out method DOESN'T work.

And if you ever need to use a pregnancy test, you have to smuggle it in and out of the house like it is contraband in a prison! Which was why, on her way to work, Jane was going to throw away the CVS bag containing the test and its instructions in a subway station trash bin. That way, all evidence was disposed of and there was less chance for a long-winded lecture from their mother.

Funnily enough, it was for this reason that Jane was in the bathroom helping with the test. Angela was a grown woman, she had no need for her little sister to look over the test. The problem was, despite her advice to Jane when she became sexually active, Angela did not always practice what she preached. There were so many occasions where Angela would leave out her birth control, throw out condom wrappers in the trash at home where Maimie could see, or just straight up bring a guy home for a quickie despite knowing the dangers of being caught. It left Jane the brunt of any left-behind evidence, whether she was cleaning it up before her mother got home or just taking the blame for it. Jane loved Angela, but it almost felt like her sister was trying to get caught.

Jane had styled her hair and makeup into a 1940's style and was beginning to dress into her Hooters uniform. She did this because someone once told her that her red hair made her look like one of those beautiful Pin-Up Girls from that period. So, whenever she went to a job where her salary was solely made from tips, Jane used whatever advantage she had to make more-especially her appearance. Angela didn't have anywhere to go until later, but she liked looking pretty as much as her sister. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was straightened, and her makeup was a lovely color palette of mauves and browns to complement her chocolate eyes.

Once her uniform was on, Jane put a second outfit over it. Hooters' memorabilia was on par with birth control and pregnancy tests in the Mannering household, thus she didn't dare walk outside even just to go to work. So her standard yoga pants over the tights and tiny shorts plus a zip-up hoodie worked fine to hide it.

"Hey, are you gonna come to the bar tonight? I'm working a double and I can treat ya to a free drink." Jane offered.

Angela laughed, "No, not tonight. I have _casual_ plans with Harris. Besides, it still feels weird to see my baby sister working at Hooters."

"It's not so weird anymore. At some point, ya realize it really is just a normal waitressing gig."

"Yeah, except the company explicitly monetizes sexualizing the staff." Angela pointed out, "And you're only sixteen! When they find out-"

"_If_ they find out." Jane clarified, "Besides, let's face it: I'm a woman. I'm going to be sexualized no matter which job I pick, let me at least make some money out of it!"

"Fair enough, I'm just sayin' you're gonna get caught and it ain't gonna be pretty."

Jane stopped at the open doorway, smirking as she quipped, "I could say the same for you and Harris."

Angela pursed her lips, annoyed but also amused by her sister's comment. Flipping through her phone as Jane left, "Good luck!"

*SEVERAL HOURS LATER*

George practically slammed his fist on the green door of the apartment. Time was running out and he felt every tick of the clock as he waited for someone to answer the door. After a while, he was finally forced to accept that no one was home. There was only two days left.

Hearing the commotion, a forty-year old woman came slowly out of the apartment across. She eyed the man suspiciously.

"Can I help you, Sir?"

George turned around, startled and not sure of what to say. This wasn't the same neighbor they had when he lived there. At least she wouldn't know him.

"Um, yeah, I'm looking for my daughters. Do you know them? Angela and Jane? They should live here still…"

The woman seemed all the more accepting, "Oh, I think I know who you mean. That, uh, Maimie woman's girls."

Almost impatiently, George nodded in agreement, "Yup, that would be the ones. Do you know where I could find them?"

The woman shrugged, "Sorry. You can try the shopping district, I think one of them has a job there. Otherwise, I wouldn't know."

George didn't bother with a thank-you and headed out of the building and to the stretch of shops and stores. Some he knew well, and others were new and took over old haunts. Unfortunately for George, one of the haunts that he would've liked to see again was his old bar, which was now taken over by a Hooters. The store looked so odd mixed into the, otherwise, family friendly district. Little Ma & Pa shops for bagels, pizza, coffee, and even the old craft supply store run by Mr. Gutman was still in place. At all these older, more familiar places George was shooed out like the plague when he tried to ask if one of his daughters worked there-they all clearly remembered him, even ten years later.

Not like he had much luck with the other places. Even in more corporate chain stores, like the McDonald's up the road or the Office Max, none of them had any employees named Jane or Angela who matched his vague recollections of their images.

Finally, he gave up and decided he'd go back to the apartment and wait for them to come home-it was probably better that way anyhow. But he would need some liquid courage before he attempted that particular reunion. He wasn't sure who to be more wary of, Maimie or Angela? George didn't think Jane would be much of an issue, as she was so little when he left. It did send a chill down his spine to think maybe she wouldn't remember him. Then again, they didn't part in the best way, so her not remembering would be more ideal anyway.

Without a closer option for a place to get a beer in the middle of the day, George went into the Hooters and sat down at a lonely table by the window. He waited patiently for a waitress, head nearly touching the table as he ran his fingers through his scraggly hair.

Meanwhile, Jane was busy cleaning up and serving drinks and chicken wings to pumped up wrestling fans that Friday evening. Her decoy outfit removed to reveal her skimpy orange and white uniform. The push-up bra and balled up socks stuffed in to amplify the real reason she made such good money there. Jane had become an expert in bending over to clean without letting the unnatural, natural-looking tits fall into a beer puddle on a table and giving away their secrets by her lack of reaction.

It was true, by age, Jane was _definitely_ not allowed to work there. Illegal, was the right word. Hooters were only allowed to be 18 and up, and officially would not allow the hiring of minors. However, Jane needed the money and her friend Dinorah (who got her the job) was having an affair with Mrs. Schnell, the manager. The deal was: Jane's only salary was tips, so they could keep her off the books. And she only worked if they were lacking employees due to illness or during winter, since most girls only took summer jobs there.

And it wasn't like the customers minded. Or, perhaps, they were just in denial about the fact that the girl they were hitting on and sexualizing didn't even have a driver's license yet. But occasionally there was a cute 18-year-old who came in for game nights that Jane enjoyed. Unlike Angela, Jane avoided sleeping with people she had any real feelings for. She wasn't irresponsible and did try to pick guys she knew enough to account for health stats and non-serial killer status. Yet, Jane loved to flirt casually. It was nice to feel desired, and she felt powerful when she did it.

Case in point, Darren, a boy of 19 who used to come in only with his buds now came in for lunch and drinks to see Jane. Jane was never sure if he could put together that she was younger than him, but since she didn't plan on sleeping with him it didn't matter.

"Hey there, Darlin'." Jane greeted, placing his usual basket of wings by his drink at the bar.

He turned around, smiling and stretching his arms over the bar-trying to show off his toned biceps. Jane appeared not to notice, keeping her cool blue eyes focused on his face. Although, her peripheral vision appreciated the sight, and definitely saved the image for later. She was leaning back on one leg, her face directly in line with his, but her body structure in just the right way to show off her own assets and curves.

"Hey there, Jane." He greeted, just barely referencing the basket with a nod before he returned to looking her up and down. "You always know just what I'm looking for."

"Well, it's not hard to tell, given you order it every time." Jane quipped, smirking. "But I think I can an educated guess about a number of things you like."

"Such as?"

Jane pretended to scrutinize him. Taking only a singular step forward. Her smirk increased when she watched his body subconsciously move toward hers. "You're in great shape, obviously. Which I can extrapolate to mean you and I have something in common."

Darren chuckled, "Really, what's that?"

"We both know how to keep a customer satisfied." Jane let the innuendo linger until Darren laughed.

"Well, unlike this place. I don't charge baby."

"Oh, but that's not all." Jane said. When he quirked an eyebrow she continued, "You don't come in here or leave with any women. So, that _could_ mean you're not having much luck with the ladies. But, I think it's the second option. You don't leave here with other girls, because you want just one lady here."

"Yeah, yeah I think there's something interesting ladies here. One in particular." He leaned forward more, getting lost in Jane's sultry expression.

"Thirsty?" She half-murmured when he was close enough.

Darren grinned, "Oh yeah…"

Jane smiled, suddenly parting removing her gaze and gesturing to the bartender. "Eddie! Another refill over here!" She turned back to Darren, "Enjoy." she said before leaving the wide-eyed college boy in the dust.

Giggling to herself, Jane started grabbing her tips from her empty tables. It was just before the rush, so the tables had to be cleaned ASAP if they were going to have happy customers. Dinorah was refilling the condiments in her section closeby. The twenty-five year old gave the teenager an amused shake of the head.

"That boy is smitten."

"That boy is horny." Jane said, "Big difference… At least I'm hoping."

"Careful, Nena, too much of anything is a bad thing. Including la polla."

"Yo sé, yo sé."

Even though the neighborhood itself was mostly bilingual (for several different languages), Jane hadn't learned real Spanish until she started working with Dinorah. It was partially necessity as, while working in a very sexualized environment, it was helpful to keep some conversations going without too much being overheard.

"Hey! Tienes un cliente allí."

Jane looked over to where Dinorah gestured to see a man hunched over. She nearly rolled her eyes, thinking it was somebody who had pre-gamed or something. But she put on her waitress smile and whipped out her notepad like the pro she was.

"Mornin' buddy. Can I getcha a drink to start?"

Then George raised his head to answer. In truth, he wasn't the first to put together who he was talking to. He looked at her and asked for a Sam Adams, and it was only when she didn't immediately leave that he noticed something was off. Jane was frozen in place, her expression shocked, but giving away nothing else. Seeing the red hair that matched his own, as well as the eyes that resembled Maimie's, George realized that this was his daughter. Although, he was shocked to find her working here, of all places.

He managed a smile, "Hi there, sweetie."

Jane didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Angela, I know that's the least I could say right now-"

Suddenly, the redhead snapped out of her surprised stupor and her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"Look, I know you probably have a million questions, and rightfully so. But just listen to me. I need to see you again. You, your mother, and little Janie-"

Before he could finish the sentence, a half-finished glass of soda was flung into George's face as Jane ran off to the back room. George only managed to see a long trail of red hair that clarified his mistake.

All the while Jane ran directly passed Mrs. Schnell, who saw the whole thing but heard nothing so she was demanding to know why Jane would treat a customer like that. The teenager ran into the staff bathroom, clutching the sink for balance as her breath became ragged and uneven. She hadn't seen that man since the night he left, and it was not a memory she looked on fondly. Dinorah was banging on the door, concerned and asking what was going on while Mrs. Schnell was making threats to fire her if she didn't come out and explain herself immediately. Jane looked at herself in the mirror, feeling her face go hot as she held back ten years worth of conflicting emotions.

_Why now? Why ever?_ Jane thought, appreciating less the fact that he'd apparently chosen her place of work as the site for this reunion.

"Come on, Jane. You can do this." She whispered to her angry-looking reflection. Finally, Dinorah had just used the spare bathroom key to get in. Though, she had to do some physical maneuvering to keep out their manager.

"Hey baby, are you okay?" Dinorah asked, "Que pasa?"

Jane was still catching her breath, she decided Spanish would be better. She was already desperate not to cry, and she really didn't want Mrs. Schnell to overhear her personal business.

"Mi padre esta aqui." Jane explained, pointing in the direction she just came from. "Fuera de. Y no quiero salir ahí. No puedo."

Jane looked on the verge of tears for just a split second. Dinorah has never seen her friend like this before. Then, as if flipping a switch, Jane's made up face was cold and glassy without a hint of anything-except maybe contempt for the man she'd just seen. That was a face Dinorah was used to seeing.

"Oh, Nena, come here." Dinorah offered a hug, only to be pushed away.

"No, I just-I-I don't know!" Jane said in frustration.

"Listen to me Jane. Here's what you're gonna do." Dinorah said, "You are gonna go home. You are going to head out the back door and leave with the tips you already have. I will take over his tab and keep him busy."

"I can't just leave. Mrs. Schnell-"

"If Miranda has a problem with it, she can go fuck herself, cause I won't be doin' it." Dinorah pushed her towards the door, "Now go. I'll take care of it."

Jane didn't need to be told twice and ran out the backdoors of the kitchen, only stopping to grab her bag and jacket.

Jane didn't even remember the walk back home. It was a 45 minute walk without a car, and normally Jane used her iPod to fill up the time. Right now, she was in a haze since leaving work.

Her father. George Mannering. She had been right in front of him.

All she could think was, _What do I tell Angela? She can't want him there anymore than I do. But what if he comes to the house? Why couldn't Mom have moved us out when he left?! This wouldn't have happened then!_

Jane had little respect for her mother. Frequently, Maimie would give speeches about being a self-actualized woman and not depending on anyone for anything. It normally came about when she was self-congratulating or didn't want to help Jane with something.

"How are you going to be a grown up, in the real world, if you keep asking me to help you? Are you going to ask me to study for you in college? Will you call me up when you're paying taxes? Am I going to be raising your children for you?" Those were the things she would say.

Jane always thought her mother was a woman who only bought feminist self-help books to get better material for pretend speeches when her dead-beat husband came back to beg for her to take him back. Not because she'd reject him, rather so she could get a good speech in before "miraculously" accepting his pleas for forgiveness.

_Oh God, what if does want her back?!_

Jane didn't have time to entertain these horrific thoughts as she came to the stairway of her apartment and heard her mother's rage-fueled voice echoing down the stairs. Except, she wasn't yelling at the newcomer Jane at just seen. She heard Maimie shout things like: _irresponsible_ and _cheap_. Upon hearing these, Jane had an immediate instinct that Angela had left something out that she shouldn't.

Forgetting all about her earlier meeting, Jane ran upstairs and flung the door open to see her mother standing in a rage before a weeping Angela, who was looking miserably over at the plastic wheel of birth control left on the counter. That was beside a CVS bag that looked like it had been thrown to the floor, as several items were strewn around it like a crime scene. Then, Maimie turned to see Jane standing in the doorway, who had been so frazzled she forgot to change out of her Hooters uniform.

"What is this? What is this!" Maimie stomped forward and grasped the straps of Jane's tank top and bra underneath. Her grip was so rough Maimie's nails scratched at the surrounding skin by accident, and Jane felt the brastrap snap as Maimie pulled her inside by it.

There was a moment of silence as Jane stared defiantly at her mother, who was less than pleased with the silent insolence. Maimie suddenly let out a gasp of exasperation and looked around the room to make her grand speech.

"I'm a terrible mother. Is that it, girls? Is that what you're trying to tell me with all this? I don't work hard enough to put food on the table, keep you in a nice warm house-"

"No, Mom, no!" Angela wept, her makeup streaming down her cheeks as she coughed out her words.

Maimie put up one finger, then began to gesture incessantly with a box of condoms she clearly found in the shopping bag. "No! That's _exactly_ what this is about! You're both getting back at me. For what? Because I don't spend enough time with you, is that it? I'm sorry that I slave away in an office, _for you_, _all day_. No, no!" She stopped Angela from trying to speak, "I deserve it. I deserve all of this! I'm clearly a terrible mother, _I'm raising little sneaks who lie to my face!_ What else am I going to find in this apartment? WHAT ELSE?!"

Maimie threw the condom box at Angela, hitting her in the stomach, then lifted the metal trash bin high in the air.

"MOM!" Jane ran past her and went to Angela's side, who wrapped her arms defensively around her little sister. Maimie dumped out all the trash onto the floor, then threw the bin across the room, breaking a lamp and leaving the room darker than before.

Maimie looked at the broken lamp for a moment, than turned back to the girls who winced when she did so. "You, Jane, you'll pay for it! You wanted a _job_? Thought you could be a real grown-up, working at a place where they practically sell girls your age to the highest bidder? Well, then you can pay for it!"

She pointed to the door, where a familiar face had appeared in the still-open doorway. But Maimie was too wrapped up in herself to see it. "You're going to march to the store, buy a new lamp and some light bulbs, and get a new trash bin while you're at it!" She dipped down onto the floor and started going through the dumped out trash, "Come here, Angela! You're gonna show me exactly what kind of filth you try to hide from me, that you bring into _my house!_"

Maimie shuffled through it for a second before realizing that neither Angela nor Jane had even moved an inch.

She turned around wildly, "What are you looking at?! What are you-"

Now Maimie was staring. The one thing that could finally bring her to speechlessness. The one man that both her daughters couldn't decide whether to be upset or grateful for his appearance. Her husband. Jane and Angela's father. George.


	3. Chapter 2: Looming Shadows

**Chapter 2: Looming Shadows**

The girls were left to clean up the garbage dumped on the floor, while Maimie and George went into the bedroom to talk. It had all been a blur since their father's arrival, they weren't sure when the awkward silence had stopped and when he and Maimie walked solemnly into her room.

They listened, thinking their mother of all people would inevitably start screaming to give them context clues. But for now, a pin dropping would've echoed through the apartment. Seeing their mother change moods rapidly wasn't unusual, but the girls were used to seeing her go from up-and-at-'em perkiness to bottled up rage. Quieter moments had to be earned, and sometimes alcohol-induced. Their mother suddenly acting like a rational adult and gently asking her ex-husband to come talk to her in the next room for a bit was, frankly, the most terrifying part of the whole day.

The girls managed to clean up the trash, mop the floor, and take showers worthy of scientists studying radium without any hint or word of what was happening. Neither of their parents had come out. Jane and Angela were just left sitting on the couch, their arms crossed protectively as the tension built up.

"Maybe she killed him." Jane said, half-heartedly trying to ease growing ache in her chest that she suspected was shared with her older sister.

Angela just gave her an annoyed look before staring back at the bedroom door.

There was only more silence for a while.

Jane tapped her fingers against her jacket sleeve. She'd been wanting to bolt from that house for hours now, but wasn't willing to leave Angela alone. She kept praying that her sister would say something, anything to indicate she wanted out-then she could hop on the bandwagon and they'd go.

Then a sound. The raising of voices was heard, muffled and unintelligible at first, but then Maimie's voice finally broke the barrier.

"What do you think you'll do?! Get down on your knees and beg for mercy!"

Jane shared a look with Angela. Mercy didn't sound like the right word for this. Forgiveness would make sense, if they were talking about the family as a whole. But then Jane thought she heard something about "one day" and "a last ditch effort." None of which gave rise to confidence in this reunion.

Finally, Angela turned and asked, "Do you wanna get food?"

"Yes."

They sprung up like their feet were on fire, grabbed their mother's car keys and ran out the door.

It was already sunrise by the time they settled in to eat their McDonald's breakfast platters in the parking lot. Angela got their parents each a meal of their own to cover for their absence. But, truth be told, they weren't going to rush back.

"Ann?" Jane said, nursing her coffee cup.

"What is it?"

Jane looked on the verge of tears, "He came to the restaurant."

"Dad? He came to you first? At Hooters?"

With a nod of her damp, red hair she replied. "Yes. But, it was an accident. I think he was looking for you. He called me "Angela", and I…"

"Oh God…" The twenty-year old wrapped her arms around her younger sister. Jane let tears flow and her head rest on Angela's shoulder.

"I was gonna tell you first, I swear! It wasn't meant to be this way. I just didn't expect-And Mom, she-I'm so sorry!"

Angela blinked back a few tears of her own, "No, you don't have anything to be sorry for. This is NOT your fault."

"I just-" Jane snorted in between, "He can't be bothered to raise us, he can't be bothered to even call to see how we are. He left us alone with that crazy bitch! And now, he can't even be bothered to remember which daughter is which! I just-I hate him! I hate him so fucking much! I wish he was gone, again. I wish he was dead and that we'd never heard about him except to find out there was a suspiciously familiar looking body on the side of the road!"

Angela just stayed quiet as she let Jane rant. Jane took that to mean that her sister shared her, or at least had similar, thoughts.

*BACK AT THE APARTMENT*

"There is only one way to get out of this."

"No, there isn't! We are not talking about this!"

"You brought it up! What did we have those girls for if not as attempts to give Pan his replacement?"

"Well, mistakenly, I thought we had children because we wanted a life together-"

"I thought so too!"

"What changed?"

"Us! For God sakes, how is that so hard for you to grasp?! We're not the teenagers we were in Neverland. We have so much more to think about now! We don't even have each other anymore… It's gone. It's dead."

"No, it's not. It's not, because we're here. Together. Now. And we'll… Have another chance, when the shadow comes tonight."

The argument was cut short when they heard the door open and close. Looking through the window, the former couple realized that it was almost 7 o'clock in the morning. They had to tell their girls now, they had mere hours before they would get a frightening housecall. So they walked out the door to reveal their daughters, frozen in place at the sight of their parents.

"Girls." Maimie said, uncharacteristically quiet, "We need to talk. And you're not going to believe us."

* * *

"You're batshit." Jane said, pacing the room, "Both of you. You are both, fucking batshit!"

"Jane!" Angela tried to calm her sister before Maimie interrupted.

"Don't use that kind of language to me, Missy! I don't care what you think you know, but your father and I are telling the truth. And if you were half as smart as you think you are, you'd know that we have no reason to lie about this! You don't know the hell we went through to get you girls."

George sat uncomfortably next to Maimie on the couch, across from his pacing daughter and the eldest who was curled up in the comfy leather chair.

"You're saying that, you two met in…"

"Neverland." George finished for Angela.

"Right. And how did that even happen?"

The couple looked at each other. George explained, "Neverland isn't just, "Second star to the right", it's a place where you can go in your dreams. Children who visited in their dreams, the other Lost Boys and I called them Dreamers. And your mother was a frequent visitor."

Maimie recalled, "I had these fantastic dreams every night. I was never sure why they felt so real. Until, one night, your father asked me if I would like to come to the island in person. I said yes. I didn't believe it until the Shadow showed up the next night."

Jane paused, standing with her arms crossed in front of her. She closed her eyes and asked, "I'm not saying I buy _any_ of this. But, there's a plot hole. How were you already on the island?"

"I'm not from this world-"

"Agreed, you're out of it. But that doesn't answer my question."

"I'm not from this world, _originally_. I come from a land with magic, with people… _You _would recognize them as fairy tales." George stopped momentarily when Jane rolled her eyes in disbelief, "I met… _Pan_, in my village. He seemed like just a boy playing for coin. But only I and a few other boys could hear it. He told me that if I came with him to Neverland, I would never had to grow up and I could spend eternity having fun."

"But then you met Mom?" Angela nearly smiled.

George nodded. "Then I met Mom. I loved her-I wanted to be with her. So Pan made us a deal. We could leave together, and when we had a son old enough, he would take my place on the island."

"But, we only had girls."

"And yet, no shortage of dicks in this house." Jane was met with a shove into the nearest chair when that quip left her mouth. Maimie stood tall and angry over her.

"Do you think this is a game? You think we're making it up?!"

"Yes!" Jane stated defiantly.

"Jane-"

"Ann, wake up! How are we expected to believe this crap?! It's ridiculous, it's absolutely insane!"

"Exactly! What other purpose could they have in telling us all this? There is literally nothing they get from lying to us here."

Jane glanced from her sister to her parents, chuckling without any trace of authentic humor. "You're right, Ann. It's true, because what they just admitted to, in the godforsaken plot dump of our lives, is that they were willing to sell off any Y-Chromosomes they produced without a second thought. The tragedy only came in when they got us." Jane turned to her father, "Is that where you've been all this time? You're gonna tell us that you bailed because you had to settle things with a toddler in green tights?"

"He's nothing like you've seen in this world! He's not a child, he's a monster!" Maimie said, "And he's coming for us tonight!"

Jane paused, "Tonight? Why?"

"I wasn't in Neverland all this time. When I left, I thought I could wait it out, but I just can't anymore. He gave us until Angela's 21st birthday to have a son. We're out of time, and out of options."

"What options?"

George sighed, "I don't know. The shadow comes tonight. But maybe I can bargain with it."

"George, Pan doesn't want to bargain with us, he wants to play his games as always." Maimie said, her hands shaking slightly in her lap, "Peter Pan never fails."

"Cool slogan. Thanks for the family stories. Goodbye." Jane walked towards the door, then stopped, turning to see Angela not moving. "Ann, come on. Let's go."

"Go where? There's a shadow that wants us, where would be safe?"

"This is not our problem. Peter Pan doesn't want us. That's the whole point of this!" Jane pointed to them, "They were the ones who screwed up!"

"Hey! We did this for you! Without us, you wouldn't exist right now!" Maimie said.

The redheaded girl spread her arms sarcastically. "Is this much better?!"

"Jane!" Angela shouted, finally standing up. "I'm not leaving."

There was a brief glance of disbelief between the two. Pursing her lips, Jane ripped off her coat, threw it across the room before heading to her own-slamming the door behind her.

*SEVERAL HOURS LATER*

The rest of the time had been spent preparing for the arrival of the shadow. It took some convincing, including of the shadow's existence, to get Jane to help set up the apartment for it's arrival.

Every lamp, every candle in the house was lit until it practically blinded you to walk in. The plan was to leave only the fire escape untouched, and keep the main room alight to prevent the shadow from entering. That way, they could negotiate.

"Well, if these two are lying, I feel better knowing they'll end up with the most epic utilities bill ever." Jane blew out the match she was using when the last candle was lit.

Shyly, Angela said, "Thank you for staying. I know this is hard."

"I didn't stay for them. I stayed for you."

"I know."

"It's the least I could do, I didn't want you spending your birthday this way. Speaking of which-" Jane pulled out the finished purse from underneath her bed, holding it out. "Happy 21st Birthday."

Angela looked at the purse, it's silk-like fabric of bright yellow. It was lovely fabric from a dress that really shouldn't have been made. But it was much better as an extra-large purse. Jane had used the sleeves to make the strap and, as evidently her needlework improved, she had embellished the sides with embroidered roses.

"It's beautiful, thank you Jane!" She hugged her little sister.

"I wanted to add more flowers and leaves, but I ran out of time. Plus, roses are the only things I know how to make right now."

"I love it." She assured.

"I thought you could use it for your work out stuff. I measured it to fit your yoga mats and weights. And I found some fabric to line it with that won't tear, but you can still have the pretty outside."

"Where do you learn this shit? First it's sewing, then it's Spanish, then those Primitive Technology videos-I mean, seriously, we live in Queens where are you going to build a grass hut or whatever?" They laughed at the thought.

"Well, I could say the same for javelin, but you did that anyway." Jane pointed out, "To emulate a Roald Dahl villain of all things."

"Hey! Say what you will about Ms. Trunchbull's school policy-"

"As well as general ethics, theft of property, penchant for murder AND child abuse." Jane said, while thinking, _Jeez, no wonder we related to that movie so much._

Angela replied through laughter, "Yes. But, she was underrated as a female icon for physical empowerment and competitive accomplishment."

"It's your birthday, so I'm going to half-heartedly reply with, "Of course, Angela! Ms. Trunchbull is a wonderful role model!" Though, I will say, I prefer the superpowers to physical strength, so Matilda is my role model."

"Basic bitch."

"Hey! She could move anything with her mind, people included!"

"Well, what do you need telekinesis for? We're like two degrees from Peter Pan."

"Yeah." There was a pause, "I'll be honest with you, as crazy as this story is, it does explain A LOT about our childhood."

"Yeah, you weren't around for this, but when I first saw _Peter Pan_ at a sleepover-well, let's just say, that was the last Mom and I ever saw of Rebecca Madden and her family."

"Given that I have never heard the name Rebecca Madden until this very moment, I'll take your word for that." Jane agreed.

"And Dad's insane outdoorsy skills that he refused to talk about."

"What about Mom's great american novel to our schools about-"

"_Peter Pan _being an inappropriate material for English due to it being written by a man of questionable morals? Yes!" The girls practically sang in unison.

The second that Maimie heard her eldest was reading _Peter Pan_ for an English class, she took it upon herself to write a near 15 page petition to ban the book from the school, and managed to get a bunch of other mothers to sign it along with her. By the time Jane had gotten to school, she had prepared a revised edition that was double the number of pages it had been before. Single-spaced. Being the unwilling test audience, Jane and Angela knew it by heart.

"Can you believe she got people to sign that thing?"

Angela stared, mystified, off into space, "I still can't believe she got the school to do it!"

"Public Education: Where Logic and Common Sense Go to Die."

"Didn't stop me from corrupting you with the smuggled in DVD."

"And I appreciate that." Jane threw an arm around Angela's shoulders, "If I'm being honest, I get a sadistic pleasure even more now, knowing that one of our childhood icons was secretly the tormentor of our crazy mother and responsibility-challenged father."

"_Jane_."

"_Angela_, stop we've had this conversation before."

"Only because you never listen to me."

"I listen, just not about _them_."

"You need to give them a chance. You were too little, you don't remember what it was like when he was around. He and mom were always fighting." Jane didn't respond. "It might've been even worse if he stayed. But he's here now. He's here because he wants to be."

"No he's not-"

"Yes, he is. He was telling me, if he can just get out of this deal with Pan, he's not backing out again. He wants to get to know us, be there for us. And maybe he and Mom can work things out. It could give her some closure and she'll finally get help."

Still nothing from Jane.

"Can you just promise me that you'll give him a chance? Maybe it's too late with Mom, but you don't even know Dad. Promise me that."

"Please don't ask me to do that."

"Why not?"

Jane sighed, "Because if you ask me to, I'll have to do it. You're the only one in this damn family I care about… And it's kind of a dick move to ask me to do this on your birthday."

"If the ends justify the means…" Angela smiled, waiting patiently for her sister's response.

Jane turned to look her in the eye. She, herself, looking very much like a guilty little girl reluctantly promising to do her chores like she was asked. She gave Angela a hug, whispering, "I'll try."

Angela tightened her grip around her little sister. "I love you, Janie."

"I love you too, Ann."

"Girls! Get in here! The sun is nearly down!"

Without a word, the girls ceased their embrace and started out towards the door. Although, Jane lingered, grabbing the near-empty packet of cigarettes from her footlocker and putting them in her pocket. She had the sensation that, if she was going to try and tolerate her father, she was going to need them by the end of the night.

When she finally got outside, Jane saw said father and Angela in a tight hug. She stayed by the doorway and watched. The look on her face was so cold it could've frozen the flames of the candle solid.

"Thank you so much, baby." George told his daughter before catching sight of Jane. SHe had to resist quirking an eyebrow at that.

He smiled, walking over with his arms outstretched to her. He missed the twitch of at the corner of her mouth when he pulled Jane in for a hug like he'd given her sister. While his arms were wrapped loving around her, Jane's arms stayed right at her sides. She hadn't even bothered to move her chin out of the way, resulting in her mouth and nose being almost completely squished into his shoulder. Blue eyes darted to find two sets of encouraging brown eyes from the two remaining women. With great reluctance, Jane reached a single hand up to tap her father on the arm in a bare-minimum show of affection. Maimie was annoyed by the lackluster effort, but Angela smiled-understanding that was, in Jane's way, a good step forward.

Finally pulling away, George said, "Are we all ready ladies?"

There were a few low-spoken words of agreement as the family crowded into the sitting room.

"What exactly are you going to do?"

Maimie told her youngest, "We're going to bargain."

"I know. I just don't understand what you're going to bargain."

That's when Maimie's eyes turned down to the table, refusing to look anybody in the eyes. George had a similar expression, though Jane noticed he how he fidgeted with his hands.

"The deal was to give Pan a son. We don't have any of those." Jane clarified.

"Honey, we're working that out. That's why we're negotiating." Maimie snapped.

Looking to her sister for a reaction, Jane noticed Angela had also taken on an appearance similar to their mother and father. Except she looked briefly at Jane, a sad little smile nipping at the corners of her lips. Jane's heartbeat sped up, her eyes widening. She looked accusatory at George.

"What do you have to bargain?" She demanded.

George looked up, confused, "What?"

"What do you have to bargain to Pan that he would want in exchange for the son he was promised."

"Jane, trust us-" Maimie tried.

"No, I want to know right now, what do you have that is worth your-"

"Jane, honey, it may not come to that." her mother said, too sweetly. "We're just going to negotiate and try our best."

There was a silence, Jane looked from Angela to her parents. Her mouth hung open slightly, seeming in awe at the thought she had. "One girl is worth twenty boys."

"What?" George looked slightly frightened at the words that came out of his daughter's mouth.

"You have no intention of going to Neverland if he doesn't want to bargain. You would have stayed wherever the hell you've been these last ten years. But why not, when you have _two daughters to spare!_"

"Jane!" Angela shouted.

George stood up to face Jane, his face as red as his hair with anger. "No! It's not like that!"

"What else could it be?!"

"He's not trading me! I want to do it!"

Jane turned, horrified at her sister. "Is that why you wanted me to give him, give _them_, a chance? Because you knew they were going to trade you off like a piece of meat?!"

"Let's all just calm down." Maimie said, trying and failing to push George back into his seat before moving towards Angela.

"What is wrong with you?!" Jane shouted at her. She pointed to her father, "This man, who left us without a second thought wants to trade your daughter and you have no problem with this?! Don't you have a fucking ounce of love for either of us?!"

"Yes! I do! But it may not even come to that." She petted the sides of Angela's hair with affection, "Daddy and I are going to negotiate-"

"Shut up, Mom! Just shut up!" Jane screamed at the top of her lungs.

All of a sudden, the lights flickered, steadily, and the air seemed oppressive. It seemed almost instinctual, them turning towards the window on the fire escape. It didn't seem like anything was there, just the city street lights in the darkness. Sunset had barely been half an hour ago, but it seemed darkness had taken over already. The sky was a deep, ocean blue and stars were coming out.

But from the expected lights, came two glowing yellow ones that looked unnatural beside the rest. Once you focused on them, you began to see the outline of a face, and then a body without a human being there to create it's form against the light. It came just to the edge of the window, where the light from the apartment ended. Without moving an inch, the window itself opened, and it was quite obvious the thing they were looking at did it.

Maimie swallowed hard, "We want to bargain with Pan-"

A crackling voice replied, "Pan doesn't want to bargain anymore. He gave you his terms, and now he's sent me to collect. If not a son for a father, then a father for a son."

"What about a daughter for a father?" Angela said.

Before Jane could protest the Shadow replied, "If he wanted a daughter, he would have asked for a daughter. And come now, what is this man to you? He would have traded any brother you had. What wouldn't he do to protect himself? Doesn't he deserve to be on Neverland more than either of you?"

His next words were said to all the women, but Jane felt the eyes focus on her. "Just one push towards me, and you'll never hear from him again."

Taking her eyes off the Shadow's yellow orbs, she saw how close they were to the window. All of them, grouped together. Her father's left arm just in front of her.

"_One. Good. Push._"

And there was a push, but Jane didn't make it, and it wasn't towards the shadow. Angela had pushed her little sister out of the way, far from the shadow and ran towards it. Jane had just regained her senses as she saw her reach towards the shadow.

"No! Angela!" Jane ran, her hand grasping her sister's shoulder. She felt more hands grab at her, and she thought she heard her father yell something in the scuffle.

When no family member managed to get close enough, the Shadow had had enough of all this. The candles all seemed to extinguish and the lights flickers so often that no one could see a thing. Jane found herself on the floor, looking up at the ceiling.

Between the flickering lights, Jane saw more shadows coming out from the corners of the room, swirling above them, around them and all over. She could no longer tell if the lights had gone out entirely or if the horde simply blocked them out altogether.

For what felt like hours, Jane heard nothing but a void. Something akin to a wind going through an empty train tunnel.

There was darkness, set as the background to a pool of lovely, pale color. Then her eyes naturally began to squint, the pools taking on different shapes, and the colors turning brighter and more distinct. Then in a flash, they seemed to be on fire!

Then in that moment, just after, Jane realized it was the sun shining above her. Then looking about, feeling the sand in her hair and between her fingers, she realized that she was seeing Neverland.


	4. Chapter 3: In Over Your Head

**Chapter 3: In Over Your Head**

"We're on Marooner's Rock." Maimie announced without effort to hide the fear in her voice.

Looking about, Jane replied snidely, "Rock? What are you talking about? It's a mini island!"

"Only when the tide is low." George clarified, "When high tide comes, this entire mass becomes submerged.

Now it was Jane's turn to feel fear, although her face only betrayed a tight lip and a slightly widened pair of eyes. It was true, what George said. The tiny bit of land separated from the central island was deceiving. It was small, approximately the area of a medium-sized office. It was covered mostly in sand with a large rock standing erect at its center. It reminded Jane of a miniature Pride Rock in shape, though it only came to a few inches shorter than her eye line at its peak. The only vegetation to be found was at the rock's base where algae had spread but not quite reached the top half.

Both Pan and a few of the crueler pirate captains who visited often left tied up victims ontop of the rock. Too well tied to move and make the attempt to swim away from their fate. Occasionally, those who were knocked out when they were left would only awaken when the water touched their feet, and were forced to look helplessly at the island as the water continued to rise. The skeletons always washed away by the time the island was ready to greet a new guest.

Backed up against the stone and staring at the water, Jane replied, "Okay, point taken. Now how do we get off?"

"The only way off, if Pan doesn't come for us first, is to swim." George told her, too busy looking at the island to notice her expression. He pointed to the adjacent beach, miles and miles off.

"That's Pirate Cove." George then gestured to the nearest landmass. It looked like a forest or something on top, but in the distance it looked to the Mannering women like a stone sticking up out of the water. "That right there is the edge of the Jungle. If we can swim across and get to it, we can climb up and take the road to the Indian Village, opposite of Pan's camp."

Jane's eyes only seemed to get wider, and Angela had already come over to put a hand on her shoulder-sensing her distress.

"What about the mermaids?" Maimie asked George, "They'll get us long before we reach the cliffside."

"No, they won't. Remember, the mermaids don't come around Pirate Cove."

"Guys! Remember? Jane can't swim!" Angela interrupted, causing all eyes (including Jane's annoyed ones) to focus on her.

George looked shocked, "Of course Jane can swim. We used to drive to the beach in East Rockaway all the time."

"No, Dad, Jane hasn't swum since she was five."

"Not that you would know that." Maimie said, arms crossed, "Missing all her formative years doing God knows what. Not that you were ever helpful when you were with us-"

"Mom, can you just shut up for five seconds please?"

Maimie's eyes went wide and she made an overdramatic motion that said, _I wash my hands of you!_ Meanwhile, Jane was clenching her fists and eyeing the water with more than a little contempt.

"Listen, Janie sweetie, if you can't swim I can carry you on my ba-"

"I'm not an invalid! I know the basics of swimming." She snapped.

"Jane, you never touch the water." Angela tried to reason.

"I can dog paddle and frog kick." Jane insisted, though her voice wavered when her eyes caught sight of the small waves begin to lick the sandy edges of Marooner's Rock. "Its just a short distance, right? I'll do this…"

"Jane…" Angela tried again, only to be pushed past by her little sister.

The teenager stood on the edge, suddenly seeing the near-black parts of the water surrounded by a deep blue that matched her eyes. She knew that meant it was deep, deeper than anything she'd swum years before. Jane didn't realize how long she'd stayed looking at the water until she saw her family nearly waist deep. Taking a steadying breath Jane walked slowly into the water. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal. Jane thought for a split second she was overcoming a childhood fear, until the cold water got up to her breasts. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she dunked her head beneath the water for a brief second before coming back up to take a deep breath.

"O-Okay, okay. The worst is over. I'll get used to it." She muttered to herself, making another dunk to "get used to it", and then another that moved her forward. She felt fine until her foot, searching for seafloor sunk so deep that her body followed just as she attempted to take a breath and pulled her head beneath the surface.

Instantly, Jane fought against the water and made desperate attempts to get her head to the surface, but it seemed all her efforts only made her sink quicker. Then she felt something pull on her arm, which she attempted to fight off to, until she felt her head reach the surface and allow her to breathe again. When her senses were restored, Jane turned to see it was Angela the Athlete who swam back to help her.

"Float on your back." She told Jane, "Trust me."

Reluctantly, Jane made some sloppy and splashing attempts until she was floating on the surface of the water. She didn't like the feeling of water in her ears and so close to her mouth. Jane also didn't relish the disturbing sensation she felt in her back, knowing that all kinds of sea creatures could be swimming beneath her and she couldn't see anything.

"Good, now just move your arms and legs to propel yourself forward. I'll guide you, I promise."

Jane made the simplest of nods before she began.

Angela kept swimming alongside her, occasionally pausing to offer words of encouragement. She she floated, Jane's eyes watched Marooner's Rock become smaller and smaller. Although, Jane could not escape the fear that tickled her spine or the waves that started to lick her cheeks and get sea water in the corners of her eyes.

"Angela."

"We're almost there, I promise."

Jane felt her body suddenly move off to one side, and the water briefly sunk from around her face. "_Angela_."

Just then, Jane saw a wave coming towards them from the corner of her eye. Her heart felt as though it shot out of her chest, her hand ceasing its calm motions and feebly reaching out in attempt to find her sister and guardian.

With only a second to hold her breath and close her eyes, the wave completely covered her body. Jane curled into herself by instinct, just feeling her body being rolled and pushed by the water. She half-prayed that if she stayed still long enough, the water would push her back onto shore. But when she could hold her breath no longer, she began her struggle to break her head through the surface.

No Angela. No one grabbed her or would pull her out.

_No, no, no! I'm not dying! _Jane thought, _Not like this! _

Jane just kept kicking and paddling. Whether it was by luck or the sheer adrenaline rush, she managed a few breaths of air to stay alive. Her eyes only managed to open to slits once to know was was getting closer to a sandy shore. Seeing this somehow gave her more energy to kick and kick until her feet found a seashell covered ocean floor. Finally able to gain a footing and take deeper breaths as she climbed ashore, Jane's heartbeat slowed.

When she slowly pulled herself out of the water, Jane crawled on her hands and knees for a breath, breathing heavily until she began to empty the contents of her stomach. Some of it was sea water and the other half was whatever remained of her Happy Meal.

Shakily, Jane pulled herself to her feet and examined the beach. She didn't remember seeing a beach when her father outlined their destination, not at the right distance anyway. There was no way she swam past where her sister and parents ended up.

Upon seeing a tall and forbidding cliff to her left with trees on top, connecting to the jungle she saw surrounding the beach, Jane realized she was on the other side of the rock.

"Angela! Mom?" Then her shouts turned quiet, "Dad?"

Nothing. Just the sound of sea and birds she couldn't name.

Looking at the darkened jungle, separated from the beach by a row or two of palm trees, Jane started off towards it.

_Only one way to get around to the other side now,_ She thought to herself.


	5. Chapter 4: Sticks & Stones, Bell & Shell

**Chapter 4: Sticks & Stones, Bells & Shells**

The small company of Lost Boys led two of the four island prisoners to camp.

The pleas from Maimie, "Please, Slightly, please!" fell on deaf ears. The long-haired, blonde boy merely looked forward to where Felix awaited them. The also light-haired but overly tall boy with the long scar down his face stood imposingly before the tied up adults. His weapon of choice, the club, slung lazily over one shoulder. His brown, hooded cloak stretched out with his arms. It gave him the appearance being, somehow, bigger and taller than he already was.

When Felix smiled at George and Maimie, not one ounce of that smile could nor should have been interpreted as friendly.

"Well, well, well the star-crossed lovers have returned to Neverland." Felix said. "Now, where are the girls?"

Aside from a slight whimper from Maimie, the couple remained silent.

"Come on now, don't make this harder on yourselves. Pan _already_ knows you have children and he already knows they're _here._ He knows what's happening on every piece of sand and soil on this island, remember?"

"If he can sense other visitors besides us, why bother asking? I don't see any girls besides Maimie." George said defiantly. Though he knew the truth behind Felix's words, and fear rushed into his face the boy put the spiked tip of his club just at his jugular vein.

"You grew a spine in the Land Without Magic, George, good for you."

His comment elicited a laugh from the surrounding Lost boys as he moved over to Maimie, who received a warning glance from George.

"How about you, Girl?" Felix used his old, unimaginative nickname for her. "Do you really want to test Pan's wrath?"

Maimie's eyes slid briefly from Felix to George and back again. She remained silent. After a long time of staring straight into the boy's eyes from her position, Maimie finally looked away at the ground-though she still didn't say a word.

Felix and the boys started laughing. "Growing up didn't do you any favors for brains. You're both just as stupid as the day you left Neverland for your _happily ever after_. No matter, our game is to find your offspring and bring them back to camp. Pan saved the game of dealing with you two for himself."

Brown eyes and blue eyes grew in terror at the thought of the fate that awaited them.

"Take them to their cages, until Pan is ready for them."

Maimie ended her silent treatment to scream protests as she and George were carried off. He joined the screams and futile struggle for freedom.

Even now, Felix only kept an even tone, "Are we ready for a hunt?" He asked the two or three boys that remained.

* * *

Jane walked for what seemed like miles of jungle. _Quite small, THEY said. Nicely crammed THEY SAID. _She thought to herself, _Hardly space between one adventure and another-Bitch, Peter Jackson could take aerial shots the length of the entire __The Lord of the Rings_ _trilogy and still have unseen footage._

When she came to probably the thirtieth, similar-looking tree in the last hour, Jane decided it was high time to get high-in a more literal sense.

Climbing the tallest tree beside her, Jane thought aloud, "Thank God for yoga pants and my laziness to not wear anything else."

A pause when she got half-way up. "Forever 21 t-shirts can go fuck themselves." she added when her "SEXY" t-shirt became a cardigan that said "SEX" over her right boob and "Y" over her left. The only mercy was the black sports bra once _underneath_ the white t-shirt.

Jane was no athlete like her sister Angela, but she managed to climb the tree well-enough. Although, by the time she got to the top, she was just breathless and delusional enough to inwardly admit something: Neverland was, actually, kind of pretty.

There were still miles of jungle before her. But she saw Pirate Cove from an aerial view now, and she admired their ability to pick the gorgeous white, sandy beach. There were several mountains for such a small island and half as many miniature islands surrounding the mainland. Yet Jane couldn't help but feel, even in the short scope of the island, there was so much more to it than it seemed.

She shook off the feeling, "It's just because the inner girly-girl in me is wondering where the fuck Mermaid Lagoon is. Heck, me and those vain bitches would get along _swimmingly_."

Jane simultaneously booed and patted herself on the back for that pun. Though a voice said aloud,

"You think you're the only one to make that joke?"

That voice did not come from Jane, either out loud or mentally. She nearly fell out of the tree looking for its source.

Looking a little bit down, Jane saw a blonde woman in rags dangling casually from a lower tree branch beside her. She was a young woman, but certainly far too old to be a kidnapped victim on the island. Though, more pressing was the fact that the woman held a _very_ sharp-looking spear in one hand and a seashell in the other. She didn't even seem very interested in Jane, as if they were two people who happened to sit beside each other on the subway.

That didn't make Jane any less suspicious. Although, she felt that even without weapons she literally had the high ground.

"Who are you?" She asked, not attempting to hide her suspicion.

The woman looked up and gave a sympathetic smile, "Tinkerbell."

It took a minute while Jane's eyes widened in utter confusion. Looking the scraggly woman over, she couldn't help but let out a disbelieving chortle, "Really?"

Tink back up from what she was doing, suddenly looking more pissed off and offended rather than sweet and unassuming.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Jane struggled for words. In her mind she went through quite a short dictionary of them: small, sparkly, jealous, killer of little girls, fearless flirt, lighting trick, or even just "huge bitch. I like her already." If Jane and every other little girl in the world _wanted_ to be Wendy Darling, than "secretly" they were Tinkerbells. That is to say, overbearing on the guy they liked and resorting to psychologically damaging tactics on their crush's crush.

Finally, what she said was, "Listen, honey, you're not bad as is but… Seriously, who is your publicist?"

Tink didn't have time for more than a mildly confused expression before she heard something that Jane was too far up in the tree to catch. Placing the hollow part of a blue tipped, white conch shell to her lips. Tinkerbell appeared to be saying something into it.

All Jane heard however, was the loud sound of a pig snorting. And it was after a short moment of disbelief that Jane could comprehend that it was coming from Tinkerbell herself!

Some more snorting came about, this time from farther down on the ground. Looking between the branches, Jane saw one of the largest, russet-colored boars she had ever seen (on YouTube) in her entire life. The second it was in view, Tink had leapt from her perch, a spear in hand, and dropped down onto the boar in one fell swoop. There was a disgusting squish and a brief scream from the great, big pig before utter silence.

Slowly making her way down, Jane watched as Tink expertly removed the spear from the dead pig and began unlatching a disguised net from underneath to wrap around the dead animal. She stopped in her tracks when Jane was just one branch down from the jungle floor. Tink immediately raised her spear to Jane, eyeing her with suspicion even when the teenager raised her hands in surrender.

"Who are you? Why are you in Neverland?"

"Jane and, bitch, I wish I could tell ya!"

Unimpressed, Tink only pressed the spear closer towards Jane's chest till it came an inch away, "No one gets on or off this island without Pan wanting them here. Now I'll ask you again, _Jane_, why are you here?"

Jane sighed. Tinkerbell was, famously, Peter Pan's best friend. She also famously did not like having other girls on the island, competing for his attention. It occured to Jane that, if Pan really only was after her parents and she and Angela had just been a mistake, then maybe convincing the presumably jealous Tinkerbell of her desire to leave with her sister would be enough to get them back home and leave. Win-Win.

"I'm not supposed to be here-Hear me out!" She added suddenly when Tink's spear began poking her painfully. Tink drew it back a little to listen, "I only found out about this whole thing a few hours ago. More like yesterday. Pan had a deal with my parents, he just wanted my father, but me and my sister got caught in the cross-fire."

Tink's spear lowered just a little, "Whose your parents?"

"George and Maimie Mannering."

It lowered all the way now and Tink suddenly looked less threatening. Although she did visibly twitch in annoyance at the names of both Jane's mother and father. It was this little gesture that made Jane like Tinkerbell all the more.

"I remember them. I'm surprised Pan does, though, he never particularly cared for either of them. He must be bored and needs a good game to play."

Jane paused a moment, "So… What does that mean for me and my sister?"

Tinkerbell looked a little forlorn, "I don't know exactly. Maybe he'll let you go, maybe he won't. Either way, I don't think he'll mind me helping you get along for a bit."

Jane looked a little dumbfounded at the unexpected kindness, not even making a move to lower her raised hands as she stared at the pixie.

Tink, her hands gathering the ends of the netting around the boar, looked up at Jane with some annoyance. "If you wouldn't mind." She said with sarcasm clipping her words. It was enough to take Jane out of herself to nod and begin to help carry the day's catch.

Walking for a little while, Tinkerbell led Jane to a path. It looked extremely unkempt, with sticks and overgrown blades of grass nearly hiding the winding stone work that made it up.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"The Indian Village." Tink told her.

"You live with the Indians? I thought you lived with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys."

Tink gave her a funny look. Almost horrified, "You thought I was leading you to Pan's camp?"

Jane shrugged, "What do I care? I'm already on his island. I just figured the request to go home would be a lot more efficiently delivered to his face. Something tells me you don't exactly have wifi or phone towers here."

"Can you take this seriously for a moment?! I don't have to stick my neck out for you."

"I never asked you to, but I am appreciative." Jane sighed, "Fine, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to assume. But speaking of assumptions, will the Indians mind me crashing with you?"

"They can't mind more anymore, they're all dead. The camp is completely desolate since Pan punished them for not giving tribute. Now do you see why Pan is not to be trifled with?" Tink said the part pointedly to Jane's widened eyes.

In her mind, Jane thought, _Well… THAT'S a thing… _unable to even think up an appropriate response to finding out that Peter Pan was a genocidal maniac. All she got out verbally was a short affirmation that she understood. ALthough, unbeknownst to her, Jane still didn't know the half of it yet.

Satisfied well enough by the look of shock on the girl's face, Tink continued to lead her down the path. "Anyway, it's the safest place. The Lost Boys don't go there, think it's haunted. Only Pan is brave enough to go every now and then, when he gets bored."

"Then who are they?" Jane stopped dead in her tracks, point up ahead.

About a good three to five jumps beyond Jane and Tink was the desolate village. Not much of the interior could be seen from their angle, but Jane could see the stone fencing that had once outlined the territory but now was half smashed and half in decay without maintenance. The entrance was down to just two tall columns made from the same stone, perfectly aligned and parted to make way for a large precession entry into the village.

Just at the entry, however, were a small group of Lost Boys carrying clubs and spears crudely made from sticks and stones. Despite being pulled immediately behind a tree by Tinkerbell, Jane noticed the half-conscious body they carried much like her and Tink's catch.

It was Angela! Bound at the wrists and ankles, and clearly groggy after having been (presumably) knocked out by the boys.

_Lucky for them, _Jane thought, _They probably had to know her out, otherwise she would've gone all Ninja on their sorry asses._

The tallest boy, with the running scar down his face appeared to be calling the shots, Jane observed. Aside from his mere height, he exuded more authority and the other boys seemed to be hanging on his silence. It made Jane wonder for a moment if this was Pan.

"Tie her up there boys." He said.

The boys only eyed the entrance of the village with unease. They didn't so much as shift from their spot.

"_Now!_"

With a jolt, and a great deal of reluctance, the boys pushed Angela over to the entrance and linked her tied wrists to one of the columns.

"But Felix, we _shouldn't_ be here." A small boy said, trying very much to hide her nerves but his voice betraying him. One of the older boys stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. Although, he didn't look like he disagreed with the smaller boy in the the slightest.

"We won't be here long. Pan says the other girl is somewhere on this part of the island. We'll just tie this one up here, and wait for the other to show up. If she doesn't, we'll leave her for the wolves and see if she game stand a game of chase with them better than she did with us."

It was the snicker of laughter from some of the boys that made Jane's blood boil. She was just about to go running out there when Tink pulled her back, struggling to keep the girl from revealing them both.

The rustling did not go unnoticed by the Lost Boys. Felix gained an excitable smirk on his face, "Now what was that."

Tink froze, trying to minimize the noise they were making. Jane's eyes looked down at the seashell attached to Tink's belt, and she got an idea. Grasping the shell and pushing Tink off her, Jane climbed the tree they hid behind.

Then she shouted into the seashell, which in turn produced a booming voice.

"_Ahoy there, laddies!_" Jane paused, stopped to look down at a horrified Tink as if to say, That's what Hook sounds like? It wasn't bad, but like Tinkerbell, it wasn't what culture had primed Jane to expect from Neverland.

"Ah, Captain, back in Neverland I see?" Jane turned back to focus on Felix, who looked about him for the source of the voice. He did not look pleased.

Unfortunately for Jane's original plan, he didn't look frightened either.

She kept going with it, hoping to wing her way out of this, "_Aye._"

"Well, you'll find no warm welcomes here, Captain. And Pan doesn't let anyone off the island twice. You really squandered your favor with him."

"_Well, I'm not here on behalf of my favor. In fact, I'm here to do a solid for you… Mate." _jane awkwardly added the British slang in an attempt to sound authentic, though, she regretted it when the confusion spread over some of the boys' faces.

She covered the shell to clear her throat before continuing the ruse, "_Set the girl free and no harm will come to you._"

Felix and the boys laughed, this was _not _what Jane had in mind for this homage. "What makes you think you can give orders around here, Hook? This isn't your ship, Captain!"

"_Trust me lad, it's for your own good that you do._" Jane said, but felt herself beginning to sweat bullets at not having a backup plan for this. She thought the boys would tremble in fear of Hook, not make fun of him.

Felix shouted angrily, "You don't give orders, Hook! Now show yourself and fight if you want to help the girl so badly!"

Jane was silent, only hearing the pounding of her own heart in her her ears.

"What's the matter, Captain?! Too afraid of a boy?"

"Felix-"

"WHAT?!" He snapped at the little boy who spoke up.

The boy shrank into the older one beside him, but spoke up hesitantly. "I don't think it's Hook. I think it's a ghost."

"No it's not! Don't be stupid." Felix dismissed, holding his ground as he waited for Hook to come out from the bushes or something.

"Then where is he? Why can we hear him but not see him?"

"Nibs is right. Something's not right."

"He's just trying to scare you, now hold your ground!" Felix told them all.

"Are you really Captain Hook?" Nibs called out to the voice.

Jane considered, then stated-still in Hook's voice, "_No._"

The boys seemed to shudder, and little Nibs asked, "Are you a ghost?"

"_Yes!_"

"If you're not Hook, prove it!" Felix said.

Jane rolled her eyes at the lack of logic of the request, but decided she ought to change her voice. _Morgan Freeman? No, no, hold back. Savor that one. Build to that. _She briefly considered Tim Currey's voice, but decided she would probably end up laughing during that imitation and ruin the whole thing.

Then, an impish grin spread across her face when she made her decision: Possessed Raegan from _The Exorcist_.

Jane put the shell to her lips and let the deep, cracking voice spread throughout the jungle. "_You'll get proof enough boys, if you don't run along now._"

The Lost Boys gasped, crowding together with their weapons drawn. Looking around for the voice futilely. Jane smiled and had to hold back a small chuckle at their expense.

"Is that a threat, Spirit?" Felix asked.

"_It's a promise, boy. There are things far worse in this forest than me. I've seen them. My people and I watch them from our village. Would you like to take a seat beside us and the girl?_"

The Lost Boys looked slowly at the entrance to the village, seeing nothing but a now awaken and equally frightened Angela.

"What sorts of things?" The third boy, who was named James, called out.

"_Things you won't live to tell about if you stay. Leave the girl to them and be gone. Better her than you, right?_"

"Felix, let's just go! It's not worth it!"

"Don't you even think-"

Changing tactics on a whim, Jane put the shell to her lips again and screamed as loud as she could. But instead of a human voice, the jungle rang with the piercing roar of a dragon. Poor Nibs cried out in fear and the older boys weren't far behind him. Jane let out several more roars, each one louder than the last as she strained her voice to go louder and higher-translated into the shell.

It didn't take long for the Lost Boys to start running down the road and pushing Felix ahead of them, despite his protests. They had completely forgotten about Angela in the scuffle. They even ran so fast they didn't notice the netted boar hidden poorly among the tall grass at the base of the tree where Tink hid. But Jane just kept shouting and shouting into the shell until the boys were far out of sight. When she finally removed the seashell from her lips, she was laughing her tits off at the whole scene and the only screams to be heard were Angela's who struggled to get out of her binds.

Climbing down from the tree, Jane ran over to her big sister. "Ann! It's okay, it's okay!"

Angela looked disbelievingly at her, "Jane?"

She nodded proudly, grinning from ear to ear. While she helped Angela untie herself, Tinkerbell struggled over with the boar, looking extremely unhappy in opposition to Angela's relief and Jane's self-satisfied grin.

"Do you even realize how dangerous that was?! I TOLD YOU. You do not mess with Pan!"

"Technically, those were the Lost Boys and not Pan himself, so technically I'm off the hook." Jane chortled at the accidental pun, "So to speak. Anyways, what was _your _plan to get past the boys and into the village?"

Tinkerbell stood silent but defiantly stared at Jane. She didn't know why she was even bothering to help this girl with a death wish. Perhaps it was a little bit of her old fairy self that made her want to. Either way, Jane was on thin ice. Angela, on the other hand, seemed like she was innocent enough and Tink didn't necessarily want to reprimand someone for trying to save their family.

Instead she told the girls, "If you're going to follow me, then _stay out of Pan's way_. Otherwise, _I'll _be the one paying the price right along with you."

Angela nodded dutifully while Jane surreptitiously ignored that request under the guise of introductions.

"Angela, Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell, Angela."

Although sharing the same bit of disbelief that Jane had when seeing Tink for the first time, Angela politely shook the fairy's hand with the tiniest of smiles.

"Hello."

Tink nodded back, "Hello; Now come on, let's get inside before they come back."

* * *

Over at the camp, the Lost Boys who remained behind from Felix's game of hunt were busy half-tending to lighting a fire and half playing a deadly game of dice. Every time you rolled, the number on the dice was the number of knives thrown at you by your opponent. They were currently in an advanced version, where the thrower had to focus just on one extremity-like a hand or a foot, instead of the whole body.

Soon though, Felix and the rest of the Lost Boys came trailing back, with the former having a particularly frustrated look on his face. When they were within the camp's boundaries, he pushed one of the Lost Boys towards the half-done bonfire. The boy's cloak went alight and he had to roll around to put it out. The poor child's face flushed with fear.

"They are just two girls!" Felix shouted, "And you let me go! They haven't been on this island one day, we had one, and now you lost both!"

"Don't blame us, Felix, every Lost Boy knows not to go by the Indian Encampment!" Tootles yelled back.

Felix swung his club at the boy who countered with a spear. The boys fought for a bit until they heard the deadly silence surrounding them. Looking up, they saw Pan slowly descending from one of the trees. He had clearly been watching, and heard about their failed hunt.

"So what happened?" Pan asked, casually walking over to the base of a tree that was magically curled to look like a throne of sorts. "You boys know how much I like a good story."

The boys all looked at each other, except Felix who started his explanation.

"_Someone_ got spooked by the dead Indian Village, and let the prisoner go."

"Only because of the dragon!" Little Nibs piped up.

Pan looked at the small boy with a raised eyebrow and a grin. "There's a dragon in Neverland, now?" He asked, very amused but knowing something was off about the news. "Where is this dragon?"

Nibs came forward, his brother Tootles unable to hold him back from telling Pan all that had happened. The young boy told him about the spirit that mimicked Captain Hook, then warned them about the dragon right before it tried to eat them. All the while, Peter looked more entertained by the second.

When the story concluded, the older boys (again, with the exception of Felix) were shaking in terror while Pan's incredulous grin remained on his face.

He stood up from his throne and paced around the clump of Lost Boys. "So you went dragon hunting today? Barely escaped with your lives?"

"Yes Peter." Nibs said, joined by two other boys who hoped it would ebb away the fact that they lost a game in this round of hunting. Losers had to pay a price.

Again, Pan raised an eyebrow. "Well then, where's my dragonhide?"

The boys all looked at each other, even Nibs was starting to catch on that Pan wasn't going to let them off that easily.

"If you fought a dragon, why isn't it dead and it's head brought to me as your prize?"

"We weren't prepared for a dragon, we were playing "Hunt". We'll be ready next time." Devin told him, the other boys nodding in agreement.

Pan went straight up to the shorter, brunette boy and stared him down. He wasn't smiling anymore and Devin swallowed hard.

"You had better. Because if I find out there is not a dragon on this island, and that you boys _lied to me_ to escape the penalty for losing a game." Pan let the threat hang in the air for a moment, his satisfied grin returning at the look of terror on their faces. "Well, I suppose you'll just have to slay that dragon not to find out, won't you?"

The Lost Boys were frozen in terror.

"Get to work on your weapons. You all go dragon-hunting tomorrow."

With that, the boys all fled, leaving Felix behind to speak with Peter. He smirked at his leader, "What do you have planned for them when they can't find the dragon?"

"Don't spoil my fun Felix. Won't be anything too bad, probably a finger or a toe or both. But they won't learn their lesson if they're allowed to think about the consequences first. I'd rather surprise them, let them think up the worst kind of punishment, and then not give them any time to think before I start carving." Pan patted Felix on the shoulder, "Don't worry Felix, you didn't lie to me. You're excused from such a punishment. All you have to do is continue the game."

"What do you plan to do with the girls when you have them?"

Pan shrugged, "I don't know. I'm still thinking of what to do with their parents. Honestly, they're already such cowards at my mercy it's hard to get any fun out of it. But I'll find a way. Then I'll be well prepared when I have the whole set."


End file.
